The Game Difficulty
Is
Crazy
Far from Avenue Fortress lay the Barony of Phillenbad.
Triss Wordsworth was sitting on the balcony, enjoying a relaxed tea time.
This was because the discussion with the first vassal had gone smoothly.
—Yes, yes. I know. The eldest young master’s personality is… well, you know how it is.
—Hahaha! I don’t even know if this needs to be said, but Phillenbad will continue to show absolute loyalty to Wordsworth! Of course, to Miss Triss as well!
Fortunately, Baron Phillenbad accepted Triss’s explanation regarding the Inquisitor incident in a positive light.
She also succeeded in securing a promise that he would actively prepare for the Holy War.
The first button had been fastened smoothly.
There was no reason not to be satisfied.
‘If only the other vassals were as understanding as Lord Phillenbad.’
While reviewing the personalities and positions of the remaining vassals in her head, Triss raised her teacup to her lips.
At that moment, a servant of House Phillenbad knocked on the door from outside.
“A letter has arrived for you, miss.”
“A letter?”
Triss tilted her head slightly.
Lucy, the maid who had been preparing refreshments beside her, opened the door and received the letter.
“They say it came from Avenue.”
“From Avenue?”
Triss sprang to her feet.
If a letter had come from Avenue, it was obvious who had sent it.
“Did Glen send it?”
With a pleased expression, Triss approached Lucy.
However, Lucy frowned.
“I don’t think so……”
“Huh? Is there a problem?”
“I think you should see it yourself.”
As she said that, Lucy held out the letter.
Stamped on it was the seal of Jaber LeMark, the lord of Avenue Fortress.
Triss took the letter and immediately checked its contents.
“It is from Glen, but……”
As she read on, Triss’s pupils began to shake violently.
“T-two weeks from now……?!”
“Miss?”
Even at Lucy’s call, Triss kept her eyes fixed on the letter.
The letter Glen had sent detailed what he experienced at the Ronian Monastery, as well as the demon race’s assault that would occur in two weeks.
“Miss? What is it? Did something happen to the second young master?”
But Triss did not answer right away.
The contents of the letter were that shocking.
“A-are you alright, miss?”
“Lucy……”
Only after reading about half the letter did Triss finally turn her head to look at Lucy.
Her ash-gray eyes were trembling intensely.
“The demon race is going to attack in two weeks.”
“……What?”
Lucy instinctively covered her mouth in shock.
“If what’s written here is true, this demon assault will be a massive attack that could shake the very survival of the territory.”
“That— that’s a lie, right, miss? Surely the second young master was joking……”
“The seal of Sir Jaber, the captain of the Gray Wolf Knights, serves as certification.”
Triss bit her lower lip.
“There’s no way it’s a lie.”
Her mind was in chaos.
The first to mention the demon race’s movements had been her father, Henry Wordsworth, the head of the family.
At the time, he had predicted that the demons would invade around next spring, about half a year later, and prepared for war at a relaxed pace.
Then, two months later.
Right after Edgar summoned the Inquisitors to the family and destroyed himself, Glen said that there were less than fifty days left before the war with the demon race.
‘That’s why I went around the vassals’ territories under the pretext of explaining the Edgar incident, trying to hurry their war preparations…….’
But not even five days after parting with Glen, the demon race’s schedule had been moved up once again.
And to a point only two weeks away—an almost impossible time to respond to.
‘The closest territory to Avenue is Phillenbad. But even Phillenbad needs at least a month to mobilize its forces.’
The same applied to the other minor lords’ territories surrounding Wordsworth.
Two weeks from the start of the demon assault.
The Gray Wolf Knights would receive no support for at least half a month.
‘Until now, Avenue Fortress alone had managed to repel their attacks.’
But in Glen’s letter, it was written that a great attack capable of shaking the territory’s survival was coming.
“W-we’ll be okay, right, miss? J-just like always, the lord and the lords of Wordsworth will protect this land, right?”
Lucy trembled as she hugged her own shoulders.
It seemed she was recalling the time when she wandered through ruins as a war orphan, before becoming Triss’s personal maid.
“……”
Triss stood up and hugged Lucy tightly.
“Don’t worry, Lucy. You’re like an older sister to me. I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you.”
“Miss……”
“And there’s still a way.”
“A way……?”
“Yes. Probably.”
Triss’s gaze turned toward the table.
The unread portion of the letter.
There, Glen had written several pieces of advice for her.
After calming Lucy and seating her on the sofa, Triss stepped out onto the balcony and picked up the letter again.
‘Glen wouldn’t have sent this just to make me anxious.’
Thinking that, Triss began reading the remaining part of the letter.
A serious light filled her beautiful ash-gray eyes.
『……This will surely become an unprecedented catastrophe.』
『But there is a way.』
There is a way.
At those words, Triss let out a sigh of relief.
『On the dawn of the day I encountered the demon race at the monastery, I complained to God through prayer about this injustice. And at last, God answered my prayer.』
『For that reason, I ask that you listen carefully to the advice I give you from here on, and please carry it out exactly as instructed.』
As if answering Glen’s request, Triss nodded slightly.
『First, please bring all the tasks you are currently handling to a close.』
The tasks Triss was handling—
Convincing the vassals of Wordsworth and hastening their war preparations.
‘Isn’t Sir Jaber’s certification enough?’
As Triss tilted her head in confusion, an answer appeared, as if anticipating her doubt.
『Even with the certification of Sir Jaber, commander of Avenue Fortress, the vassals will not readily move their troops.』
『Other minor lords may acknowledge the strength of the Gray Wolf Knights, but they consider their roots to be lowly. Therefore, I ask that you do your utmost to make them prepare for war as soon as possible, even if only by a single day.』
‘That’s true…… Father wasn’t especially warm toward them either.’
Triss nodded again.
Steeling her resolve, she continued reading.
『And there is one thing I strongly wish you to do each time you arrive at a vassal’s territory for this task. This is advice for your sake, and could be said to be the true purpose of this letter.』
‘For my sake?’
Triss gently touched her lips.
But what was written below was also difficult for her to understand.
『First, secure a large amount of “Girmo Grass.” You should be able to obtain it easily in the Barony of Phillenbad. Then, when you arrive at each vassal’s territory, find a monastery. After that……』
‘Girmo Grass? A monastery? What does all this mean…….’
And the moment she read the next lines, her pupils shook violently once more.
『If you successfully complete that task, then you will be in a state of having woven the “Sixth Ring of Faith.”』
One day after arriving at the border region.
Glen opened his eyes.
‘I was worried I might lose about five days due to the backlash from using Tyrant King’s Wrath.’
Fortunately, since Glen’s rank had risen compared to when he first used the skill, the penalty seemed to have been greatly reduced.
Not only that, sleeping for a day had also ended the gray ring’s penalty.
“That’s a relief.”
With less than two weeks left until the demon assault, five days would have been far too precious to lose.
Recovering those days that could have been wasted made him sigh in relief.
He got out of bed and stepped onto the balcony.
The cool air gently swayed his ash-gray hair.
The fortress was dyed red by the setting sun, and the scene spreading out below was quite a spectacle.
On one side, knights who had finished their duties were clashing swords in the training grounds.
On the other side, groups of knights were returning maintained weapons to the armory.
This place, where appropriate tension and peace mixed together, suited Glen quite well.
His gaze drifted to one spot.
There, the trainee knights who had left the estate with him were gathered.
“Oh, it’s Young Master Glen.”
“Yoooung master! Are you alright?!”
The trainee knights spotted Glen on the balcony and waved happily.
Among them, Tasha quietly bowed her head toward him.
‘Looks like she woke up.’
Waving back with a satisfied smile, Glen returned to his room.
He sat at the desk and spread out the papers where he had previously organized his plans.
Even if it wasn’t five days, losing a whole day was still a fact, so he needed to sort out his gains and prepare for tomorrow.
The most noticeable gain was already on the desk—an artifact.
Glen reached out, picked up the black horn, and opened its information window.
《Medlerus’s Horn》
《Rank》 : Legendary
《Type》 : Instrument
《Option》
: Can be used when 100 or more allies are gathered. When used, all allies’ stats greatly increase for a certain time and they gain immunity to the 『Fear』 status effect.
《Story》
At the moment I thought it was truly the end, a horn suddenly sounded from somewhere. Vitality surged through my body, and the fear dominating my mind vanished completely. My comrades and I raised our swords and fought back, eventually defeating enemies twice our number.
—From a soldier’s diary
The performance was exactly as he remembered.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward.
“As expected, it’s broken as hell.”
The stat boost was nice, but the true value of this artifact lay in its immunity to fear.
In the world of Gray Eden, there were dozens of mental status effects such as Weakness, Rage, Confusion, and Sloth.
These were extremely important factors that could decide victory or defeat in mid-to-late game or large-scale battles.
Players could naturally obtain resistance to status effects through items as they played.
However, allied NPCs couldn’t prepare countermeasures to the same extent as players.
At best, they relied on protective miracles cast by priests in the rear.
Frontline soldiers couldn’t even expect the effects of those miracles.
As a result, once large-scale battles began, they were inevitably exposed to status-effect magic.
Among those, Medlerus’s Horn blocked fear—the status effect that most severely reduced combat power.
‘And the enemy I’ll be facing this time is Penelope, the witch leader.’
Considering the magic she frequently used in the original story, there was no better artifact for this war.
‘All that suffering wasn’t for nothing.’
Shrugging his shoulders, Glen carefully stored Medlerus’s Horn in his bag.
Then he opened his status window to check his stats.
《Glen Wordsworth》
《Race》 : Human / 17 years old
《Stats》
§ Strength : 35 Agility : 42
§ Vitality : 36 Charisma : 20
§ Holy Power : 50 Demonic Power : 22
《Unique Potential Abilities》
§ Demonic Power User
§ Favor of the Blade
§ Ringless Knight
“Heh… you’ve grown well. Really well.”
He felt almost intoxicated by his own growth.
It was hard to believe this was the same pathetic paper-doll Glen Wordsworth.
‘What’s a bit disappointing is that stats other than holy power are growing more slowly.’
But even that wasn’t something to truly regret.
The higher a stat was, the more experience it naturally took to raise it further.
Glen didn’t mind.
There were countless ways to force growth even in the mid-to-late game, when stats became harder to raise.
He could immediately strengthen the gray ring by boosting his relatively low demonic power.
Or he could move to obtain sacred-demonic power, which existed only as a faint possibility.
‘There are plenty of routes.’
The only problem was the approaching demon assault.
Once he overcame that massive trial, Glen would be able to choose freely among dozens of growth paths.
“Well then, in that case, shall we have some Lunatic reward unboxing time?”
Glen grinned.
As mentioned many times, Lunatic difficulty was high risk, high return.
It was a troublesome system that was hard to hate—endure overwhelming risk, and you received a matching reward.
‘Last time, it gave me the gray ring, saying it was what I needed most.’
He couldn’t help but feel excited, wondering if this time it would grant something just as powerful.
《You have overcome the Lunatic element.》
《Special rewards will be granted.》
A message beautiful beyond words.
Glen slowly read it as if savoring it, then opened the next page.
And in the next moment—
Glen encountered a system message that was quite different from what he had known before.
《All stats increase by 2.》
《Lunatic Special Reward》
§ Lunatic Inventory
§ Lottini’s Ring
§ Indomitable Rider
《Please select one. The rewards included in the chosen option will be granted immediately.》
A look of confusion appeared in Glen’s eyes.
“Huh?”
Normally, the categories would read Player Authority, Artifact, or Unique Potential Ability, with detailed explanations.
“Why is it showing this?”
But the doubt lasted only a moment.
Soon, the corners of Glen’s mouth stretched all the way up to his cheekbones.
